Gubernatorial candidates take shots at each other, Gov. Jindal

The four candidates running to be the next governor of Louisiana started drawing bigger differences between each other as the October election draws nearer.

The candidates faced off Tuesday at a forum hosted by the Louisiana Federation of Independent Businesses which was geared toward small business owners.

Current Public Service Commissioner and Republican Scott Angelle said his executive experience on a state level sets him apart from the other candidates in the field.

Angelle said the current budget process isn't working.

"We've had fire drill after fire drill after fire drill," Angelle said. "I'm here to tell you - the building is on fire."

The lone Democrat in the race, John Bel Edwards, said the state has to face some harsh realities and agreed with the metaphor that the building is on fire. However, Edwards said he did not help current Governor Bobby Jindal light the match unlike Angelle.

"Part of the structural fix means we have to put tax expenditures on the table," Edwards said. "We have to do that and keep them in check or we cannot invest in our critical priorities."

Lieutenant Gov. Jay Dardenne, who is also a Republican, pointed to his experience running several state agencies.

"I tried to lead by example," Dardenne said. "We shrunk budgets and shrunk the number of employees, and we proved that you can do more with less."

Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter reminded the audience that this would be his last public office and last public appointment saying that he will be focused on Louisiana.

"The main reason I decided to run for this so early, was because I wanted time to prepare for the job," Vitter said.

A few of the candidates took jabs at Gov. Jindal saying that they wouldn't need to check with Washington to see what would be good policy for Louisiana.

The election for governor is October 24 and will almost certainly force a runoff at the end of November.